Zbigniew I of Poland

Zbigniew I of Poland (1060-8 July 1113) was the King of Poland from 1104 to 1107. He succeeded his father King Wladyslaw I of Poland upon his death, but he was defeated by his half-brother Boleslaw Herman and exiled.

Biography
Zbigniew was the son of King Wladyslaw I of Poland and his pagan wife Przeclawa, who was unrecognized due to the pagan ritual of their marriage. Zbigniew was nevertheless realized as Wladyslaw's heir, and he governed Halych castle in present-day western Ukraine. Secluded in the castle, he did not take part in his father's designs for Europe, and was overshadowed by the successes of his half-brother Boleslaw Herman and his adoptive brother Tobiasz of Slupsk.

In 1104, when his father died, Zbigniew became the new King of Poland, but his half-brother Boleslaw claimed the succession due to his mother Judith of Bohemia being Zbigniew's official wife. Zbigniew fought until 1107, when he was defeated, and Boleslaw became Boleslaw III of Poland. Zbigniew resisted his decisions as king, and was later blinded. He died in Tyniec Abbey in Krakow, a Benedictine monastery.